Killer Restaurant

Hanging by my ankles, upside-down from the ceiling, I wake up. Not fully aware of my surroundings, but I know something horrible has happened to me. Blood from my ankle drips heavily down my body as the coarse rope tightens and cuts through my skin. My mind is foggy as I try to retrace my steps leading up to this moment.

I was headed down the famous Highway 370. This highway yielded zero clues left by the Highway 370 killer. No one knew who was doing this, but hundreds of people were going missing each year from this stretch of road; but, where was this happening? I have tracked people from all over the country who travel down this road and simply vanish, never reaching their intended destination. Not one body was ever found. I have journeyed down hundreds of miles on this beautiful landscape.

Not surprising that I find many quaint small towns, most of them beautiful waterfront properties. Somewhere along this road lurks a killer, and I was steadfast in finding this monster. It seems I may have done just that. Recalling my usual stops at the ‘Mom and Pop' type stores and coffee shops. I search for my knife; gone. I was headed to this beautiful restaurant on the coast where I dock my boat, about halfway down the suspected targeted area. Trying to remember if I reached my boat, I squirm trying to break free. I always get a whole pie and steak dinner to bring on the quest to search the waters for bodies.

I wanted to take her for a spin for the first time after rebuilding the motor myself, with my teenage son. “Brian?!” I panicked for a moment, thinking he had been with me this time. As my memory slowly returns, I am reassured. He is with my Ex-Wife, Lee-Anne, in Las Vegas. My final destination. It hits me all at once and I panic, thinking I may not be sharing that legendary funnel cake ice cream that we always stopped for in Vegas.

Trying to keep my legs as intact as possible, I try vigorously to do a sit-up. I think I might be tall enough to free myself. Whoever did this to me is coming! I am startled because it has been nothing but bitter silence until it was shattered by heavy footsteps. I yell for help, but it doesn’t seem to work. “No sense detective, this area is soundproof! No one can hear you.” I look up to see two figures entering the dingy room. One man and one woman are approaching me rapidly. When I see the whites of their eyes, I let out a gasp, “It has been YOU all along?”

The man smiles with a cold, desolate stare, “SURPRISE!” His wife snickers and rocks back and forth on the spot, sharpening a kitchen knife. “Benjamin, what a pleasure to see you again! You just don’t give up, do you?! You would have found us out eventually and we can’t have that, can we?” She comes closer as she speaks, slowly placing a sharp blade across my forehead. She continues talking as if everything is normal while slicing my skin open just a tad.

For the first time in all my years of working on this case and seeing these two along the way, I see them in a new light. “Beatrice! I can’t–but, but your pies are delicious! This whole time it’s been you two? ALL ALONG!” I finish with a scream. Looking at Beatrice’s aged face and weak frame, I become more interested in the clanging of tools behind me. I swing my body around to see what Stan is doing and suddenly he speaks.

“Don’t worry! I won’t kill you just yet. That takes some time! First, we are going to answer all of your questions.” He had the pure look of evil deep within his pupils. I felt his stare within my soul. Trying to stall and figure out a plan to overpower these two, I ask, “why?” He chuckles. “Now that will take some time. Can we start with something a bit more basic?”

“Could you cut me down?” He snickers, “no.” I ask the first question that comes to mind, “Where are all the bodies?” Beatrice looks at me with her big, blue eyes and says, “That steak you always get is cut a really special way and comes from the athletic type. Let me show you.”